
Book_: _ ■ £•* ff 

Copyright^ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



BY HALFORD E. LUCCOCK 



FARES, PLEASE ! AND OTHER ESSAYS 

12mo. Net, 75 cents 



The Mid -Week 
Service 



By 
HALFORD E. LUCCOCK 

and 

WARREN F. COOK 




THE METHODIST BOOK CONCERN 
NEW YORK CINCINNATI 






Copyright, 1916, by 
HALFORD E. LUCCOCK 



4». 

JUL 27 1916 

©CI.A433870 
7^/ # 






CONTENTS 

Chapter Page 

Preface 7 

I. Eyes Front! 9 

II. Some Prayer Meeting Convictions . 12 

III. Some Prayer Meeting Standards.. . 28 

IV. Some Prayer Meeting Experiences . 43 

V. The Meetings 53 

VI. Additional Suggestions 104 



PREFACE 
This little book is not an Inquest. 



CHAPTER I 

EYES FRONT! 

Many an inquest has been held 
over the prayer meeting. And sweet 
are the uses of an adversity like an 
inquest. It teaches much, and it 
usually interests. The far-famed in- 
quest over the early death of the 
lamented Cock Robin never lacked a 
perpetual charm for our childhood, and 
seems to have served as a model for 
many a discussion of the prayer meet- 
ing. "Who kiUed Cock Robin?" is 
the question. "The minister with his 
long talks," says one witness. "The 
congregation with its cold indiffer- 
ence," says another. "The age with 
its worldliness," says a third. If a 
true bill is to be returned, it looks 
as though we should have to indict 

9 



10 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

a whole people, which Burke tells us 
we cannot rightly do. So many a 
treatment of the theme has been 
simply a variation of the lament, 
" Where are the snows of yesteryear?" 

To say that the prayer meeting is 
dead would be a gratuitous piece of 
generalization to which we do not 
commit ourselves. It is far better to 
maintain the "judicial" attitude of the 
French minister at the English court, 
who reported to his government: "Some 
say that the Pretender is dead; some 
say that he is not. For myself I be- 
lieve neither story." 

The church is not nearly so much 
interested in Inquest as she is in 
Conquest. How to make all her forces 
into full strength regiments in the 
march and battle of the Kingdom is 
her first concern. Her command to 
each is "Eyes front!" 

Mid toil and tribulation 
And tumult of her war, 



EYES FRONT! 11 

She is asking of her midweek serv- 
ice as of every regiment to face a 
changed battle front. 

While no discussion of the prayer 
meeting which did not keep in mind 
the changed spiritual and mental con- 
ditions of the day could possibly be 
of value, to consider such changes as 
they affect the prayer meeting is not 
within the purpose of the present 
writing. Such necessary work has been 
excellently done. The present ques- 
tion is not, How did the prayer meet- 
ing come into its present situation? 
but, Where is it going? What may it 
be led to accomplish? This book 
hopes to partially answer the ques- 
tion with some suggestions of applied 
methods. 



CHAPTER II 

SOME PRAYER MEETING 
CONVICTIONS 

1. A prayer meeting is one of the 

logical inferences of Christian theology. 

It is not mere utility as a form of 

worship which has given it its place 

through the centuries. The doctrine 

of the Fatherhood of God has been 

equally responsible. As soon as a 

building becomes a home it needs 

something more than a reception room, 

an art gallery, and a conservatory. 

It needs a living room and it needs 

a nursery. The Christian Church, 

called into being by the revelation of 

the Father God, was born in a home, 

and radiated out from a center filled 

with tender domestic associations. The 

church should always bear the hall- 
12 



CONVICTIONS 13 

marks of its birthplace, retaining the 
gracious hospitality, unruffled peace, 
and warm-hearted love of a genuine 
home. It is not enough to supply 
these through the smaller gathering 
in the prayer meeting. They must 
be the unmistakable marks of the 
church itself, penetrating all like the 
very atmosphere of an orchard in 
bloom. Where this is lacking, as the 
common atmosphere which fills the 
whole of the Father's House with 
fragrance, it is almost impossible to 
cultivate the grace of real Christian 
fellowship in any particular depart- 
ment. But where it is present there 
is still need for some gathering in 
which the great doctrine of the com- 
munion of saints, which so easily dis- 
solves into airy nothing, gets a local 
habitation and a name. What form 
it may take depends upon as many 
and varied conditions as does the 
form in which the fellowship of a 



14 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

family finds expression and growth. 
That depends on the family, its mem- 
bers, temperament, its needs, occupa- 
tion. But if a home is really a home, 
standing for more than board and 
lodging and comfort, there must be 
some means of the culture of fellow-v^ 
ship, sympathy, and mutual self -giving. 
So if the church is a home, made so 
by every truth of the New Testament, 
it must protide some natural and 
familiar means of family council, so ^ 
that the homely New Testament duty 
and grace of "doing good and com- 
municating" and "greeting the friends 
by name" may not perish from the 
earth. A mid-week gathering will pro- 
vide a strategic opportunity of / 
strengthening the grip on the lives ^ 
of men of what Dean Bosworth has 
called the four great bonds which tie 
them together — a common work, a 
common deliverance, a common ex- 
perience, and a common hope. 



CONVICTIONS 15 

2. Having said this, let us hasten 
to add that the midweek service has 
suffered grievously from mistaken loy- 
alties. "Loyalty is the soul of re- 
ligion/ ' says Josiah Royce, and in 
a very suggestive and thoughtful book, 
The Philosophy of Loyalty, has claimed 
it as the soul of nearly everything else. 
His exaltation of a noble tenacity 
of spirit and will is a word always 
in season, yet loyalty of itself is never 
an unmixed good. Without the in- 
forming spirit of a mobile and open- 
minded intelligence it becomes the 
world's unrivaled obstacle to progress. 
Rufus Choate once said that John 
Quincy Adams was a "bull dog with 
confused ideas.' ' Now, a bull dog 
with an unyielding grip has its uses 
in the world, but a bull dog with con- 
fused ideas is a dangerous thing to 
let run loose. Oxford has been pa- 
thetically called the "home of lost 
causes and mistaken loyalties." The 



16 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

church has surely been a home of 
mistaken loyalties. 

There has been the mistaken loy- 
alty to a vocabulary. Through a deep 
and even holy desire to preserve the 
truths which have found, necessarily, 
only partial expression in certain 
words, many have fastened their loy- 
alty to the words themselves — forever 
mistaking, like the Prince in Tenny- 
son's "Princess," "the shadow for the 
substance." 

There has been the mistaken loyalty 
to a method. Not fully comprehend- 
ing the infinite variety of an unchang- 
ing God who yet fulfills himself in 
many ways, his servants have fre- 
quently endeavored to transform that 
glorious city with three ever-open gates 
on a side into a castle surrounded by 
a moat, with only one entrance over 
a narrow drawbridge. 

The mistaken loyalty to a form has 
greatly subtracted from the possibil- 



CONVICTIONS 17 

ities of the midweek service. "I can 
take care of my enemies, but save 
me from my friends/ J was the prayer 
of one discouraged, but discerning man. 
So, from the friends of the prayer 
meeting to whom fond memory con- 
tinually brings the light of other days, 
loyal to the traditional form of meeting, 
its exposition and more or less hack- 
neyed and irrelevant testimonies, the 
prayer meeting has suffered as much, 
at least, as from its enemies. More 
often than we care to think of we 
have allowed the truths of Him, whose 
mercies like his sunrises are new every 
morning, to become mildewed and 
musty, under the blight of an un- 
varying form for their consideration. 
There has grown up a mode of pro- 
cedure in the service which is more 
like a solemn ritual than anything 
else. When the leader finishes and 
announces that the meeting is open, 
the real truth of the matter is often 



18 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

that it is closed as tight as a drum, 
and he might as well say "Earth to 
earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust," 
for the meeting is already laid away, 
as far as lifelike response is concerned. 
Dr. Richard C. Cabot says, "No one 
ought to be satisfied to test his work 
by any easier standards than these: 
First, am I seeing all the actual facts, 
the ever new and unique facts as 
they come before me? second, am I 
tracing out as far as I can the full 
bearing, the true lesson of this move- 
ment or situation?" Might not a 
parallel test, equally hard and thor- 
oughgoing, be well for those interested 
in conserving prayer meeting values? 
"Believing in the unique usefulness of 
the fellowship meeting, are we giving 
to it enough thought and consecrated 
ingenuity to provide it with varied 
and fresh forms? Are we making it 
so flexible as to appeal not merely 
to 'prayer meeting folks/ but to 



CONVICTIONS 19 

widely different temperaments? Are 
we making it natural and easy for 
people to readily participate without 
constraint and without the least trace 
of cant? Are we making it touch 
life closely and definitely enough to 
be a real inspiration to service?" 

3. Most churches do not need a 
continual meeting of the type so pre- 
dominant in the New Testament — the 
"charismatic" meeting, a gathering for 
the exercises of spiritual gifts. The 
earliest Christian worship was a meet- 
ing for edification not only for be- 
lievers but also for unbelievers. Every 
Christian had "received the Holy 
Ghost" and a "gift" as the "man- 
ifestation of the Spirit within him" 
(1 Cor. 12. 7ff.). From the lists in 
Rom. 12. 6 and 1 Cor. 12. 8 we learn 
that these gifts were of a manifold 
nature; but there was a distinction 
drawn (1 Pet. 4. 10) between the gifts 
of speaking and the gifts of ministry, 



20 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

and those who had received the gifts 
of speaking took part in public wor- 
ship. Saint Paul describes the service 
in 1 Cor. 14. 26, mentioning as different 
parts a "psalm, a teaching, a tongue, 
a revelation, an interpretation." These 
parts are not rigid divisions and are 
not exhaustive, for prayer was an in- 
tegral part of the service (1 Cor. 11. 4). 
This type of meeting for the employ- 
ment of diverse gifts of speaking has 
naturally served as a model for the 
modern prayer meeting of the Prot- 
estant Church and there will always 
be a place for the exercise of such 
genuine and unmistakable gifts of the 
Holy Spirit. But it is open to serious 
question whether such a meeting can 
be used as a model in a church year 
after year to the largest edification of 
all concerned. Gifts which might be 
classed as gifts of prophecy, teaching, 
and revelation — from whatever variety 
of causes — are not common. And 



CONVICTIONS 21 

where they do not abound, as is so 
often the case, to let the meeting de- 
pend so largely upon their manifestation 
is to limit very needlessly the range and 
possibilities of the service. There are 
clear evidences that in the early church 
the type of meeting easily tended to 
become one not altogether making for 
edification. He would be lacking in 
experience who would fail to know 
the genuine power in the unction of 
sincere testimony, revelation, and ex- 
hortation of the laity. But he would 
also be lacking in experience who would 
assert the continual need of the average 
church for a meeting whose main reli- 
ance is upon these "spiritual gifts." 

4. The prayer meeting is not prop- 
erly a matter for the conscience. It 
is not functioning rightly when it 
rests its claim on duty. "Put the 
prayer meeting on your conscience, 
brethren," echoes from many pulpits. 
The frequent result of putting the 



22 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

prayer meeting on the conscience is 
that it irritates the conscience more 
or less, but does not bring the 
owner to the meeting. The anonymous 
vivacious author of the Confessions of 
a Clergyman has convincingly de- 
scribed a case of the prayer meeting 
being "put on the conscience": "A 
midweek service. Bells slowly tolling. 
Here and there women starting out, 
singly or by twos and threes, their 
faces expressive of a sweet, patient, 
sacrificial dutifulness. For every seven 
women a man — generally a meekish- 
looking man, or if not that, one pos- 
sessed of a Lincoln-like firmness. 

"In forty homes, meanwhile, a trou- 
bled air, as if the bells recalled priv- 
ileges neglected. Then a distant sound 
of treble voices singing, with possibly 
a baritone above them. At this, a 
quite perceptible change in the stay- 
at-homes. Now that it is too late 
to go, they feel less guilty." 



CONVICTIONS 23 

5. The midweek service should be a 
devotional meeting; but the word "de- 
votion" used in this connection is a 
word of enlarging meaning. There is 
much of truth in the suggestive re- 
mark of Coleridge, "Make any truth 
too definite and you make it too small." 
The word "devotional" has often been 
made much too small by being made 
to cover too limited a variety of 
exercises. The words of Isaiah are 
aptly descriptive of the case — "The 
bed is shorter than a man can stretch 
himself in." Whether a meeting is 
devotional or not depends not so much 
upon what kind of things are done 
as upon the effect that is produced. 
The simple giving of information may 
have a high devotional value in that 
it may result in changed purposes or 
quickened ideas; while a meeting com- 
posed of prayer and exhortation may 
be decidedly unspiritual if it results in 
weariness and lack of interest. "The 



24 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

sin against the Holy Ghost in the 
pulpit," says Sydney Smith, "is dull- 
ness." If that is true, the prayer- 
meeting room also has often been a 
very sinful place. "There is only one 
impermissible pulpit style," he says, 
"the uninteresting." Dullness is one 
of the arch enemies of spirituality to 
be feared and warred against equally 
with other forms of vice, commonly 
rated more deadly. Whatever kind of 
midweek service results in new views 
of truth from unconventional angles, 
new stirrings of interest, or new im- 
pulses to service, is a strictly devo- 
tional meeting. And whatever does 
not so result, no matter how tradi- 
tionally "devotional" its form and 
words, is not so. 

6. In what may be called a "family 
council" type of meeting, the church 
has great spiritual resources. Nearly 
all of the midweek services described 
in later pages are of this general type. 



CONVICTIONS 25 

It might be called a "round-table" 
type of meeting, did not even that 
suggest too much formality. The ideal, 
by no means always achieved, but 
never lost sight of, and frequently 
approximated in actual experience, has 
been to create the unconstrained at- 
mosphere or tone of the home sitting 
room, when the various members of 
the family return home from the day's 
work, and the events of the day are 
naturally spoken of by all. An effec- 
tive means of dispelling the constraint 
and reserve which hangs over so many 
prayer meetings like a miasma has 
been to furnish something to be done. 
The things done are often extremely 
simple, as in the case later described, 
where the people were asked to bring 
from their houses old Bibles and use 
them in the meetings. The result was 
an awe-inspiring collection of books 
around which were gathered the most 
tender and precious associations of life 



26 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

to many present. But a far more im- 
portant result was that several people, 
who could never be induced to make 
a speech in meeting, or "give a testi- 
mony/ ' as the common phrase runs, 
showed their Bibles to the company 
and told to whom they belonged, to 
a mother or father, and very gradually 
they were speaking of the deep things 
of their heart's life, with as much 
freedom and naturalness as a man 
showing some photographs to some 
friend in his parlor. Such a partici- 
pation is incomparably more beneficial 
to the one who speaks and all the others 
than a testimony given from a sense 
of duty or restlessness at seeing the 
meeting lag. These things to be done 
are never to be introduced merely for 
the sake of novelty, for there is no 
spiritual value in novelty of itself; and 
if it is in the least bizarre or extrav- 
agant, it quickly destroys a spiritual 
atmosphere. Everything to be intro- 



CONVICTIONS 27 

duced into the prayer meeting must 
pass through this narrow gate — "Will 
it make some spiritual truth clearer, 
win it a readier attention, or build 
up some desired mood or temper of 
prayer and service in the attendant?" 
But where this test is conscientiously 
applied, and where the congregation 
come to know that the next meeting 
will be different from the last, that in 
it they will do something which will 
lead them on into freedom from self- 
consciousness, in that place the prayer 
meeting has been securely established 
in the affections, the only place it can 
permanently make its home. 



CHAPTER III 

SOME PRAYER MEETING 
STANDARDS 

Cardinal Mazarin had only one 
test or standard in his judgment of 
men — a simple one of three words — 
"Is he lucky?" Under the thin veneer 
of churchmanship, the deeply rooted 
paganism of his heart clung to the 
fetish of the superstition of luck. The 
standard of a considerable part of the 
modern world can be expressed in a 
question of three words, equally simple 
and equally valueless — "Is it Big?" 
It is the child's first footrule: the loss 
of a penny is by a natural logic a 
greater calamity than the loss of a 
dime. The penny is bigger. Many 
men, "children of a larger growth," 
rarely ever ask any more penetrating 

28 



STANDARDS 29 

question of things. In The Turmoil, 
Booth Tarkington has pictured with 
great power the pitiable blindness of a 
city bowed at the altar of Bigness, 
with utter disregard of the effect of 
size on the lives of the people who 
make up the city. 

So one is not at all surprised to find 
that a very frequent test of prayer- 
meeting success is the same crude 
footrule size. "The biggest prayer 
meeting in the city" is a standing line 
in the advertisement of a church in 
an Eastern city. "So many testi- 
monies in so many minutes" is part 
of many a report, given with a ring, 
which unmistakably marks it as the 
very apex of success. And large num- 
bers of people would regard looking 
at such manifestly good accomplish- 
ments with a critical eye as ultra 
fastidious. Yet one who approaches 
the subject from the angle of thought- 
ful experience will readily agree that 



30 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

mere numbers, as regards the prayer 
meeting, are very much like the flow- 
ers immortalized by W. S. Gilbert, 
which bloomed "in the spring," but 
which, after all, had "nothing to do 
with the case." 

The shrewd politician pays no super- 
stitious homage to numbers — except as 
they appear in the ballot box. Tell 
him that the opposition candidate ad- 
dressed an enthusiastic meeting of five 
thousand people, with much flag-wav- 
ing and music, and the usual response 
will be a bland and confident smile. 
But tell him of a meeting in conference 
of leaders of different organizations in 
the city, be there only ten or a dozen 
present, he will at once be interested. 
The competent historian no longer 
judges by size. In 1874 Robert Lowe 
made a speech in the House of Com- 
mons in which he amused himself with 
belittling the Greeks and Romans. 
"The battle of Marathon," he said, 



STANDARDS 31 

"was of less account than a modern 
explosion in a coal mine, which often 
kills a greater number than the nine- 
teen hundred and twenty-nine persons 
who perished withstanding the hosts 
of Darius." On this John Fiske com- 
ments very pertinently: "The moral 
intended was that the newspaper is a 
better textbook than Herodotus. Now 
I can imagine that too exclusive at- 
tention to a newspaper, with the 
myriad disconnected items of fact and 
fancy, might so destroy one's sense of 
perspective as to blind one to the 
importance of an event upon which 
hung the whole future of European civ- 
ilization. The battle of Borodino with 
seventy thousand killed is trivial com- 
pared with Marathon. We cannot 
measure events with a footrule." 1 

The thoughtful Christian well knows 
it. Who would compare for a moment 
the importance of the feeding of the 

1 Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America, Vol. i, p. 218. 



32 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

five thousand with that little meeting 
in an upper room in Jerusalem where 
only twelve persons were present with 
the Master, or even with the meeting 
with the woman at a well in Samaria, 
or with Nicodemus with two present? 
Let it not be inferred, on the other 
hand, that smallness of numbers has 
any magical advantage in a meeting. 
A large midweek service is a consum- 
mation devoutly to be wished and 
earnestly worked for. More than that, 
a somnolent satisfaction with small 
numbers is nothing short of the be- 
trayal of a sacred trust. Nevertheless, 
the question that really signifies is 
never, How many were present? but 
everywhere and always, What did 
those who were present do as a result 
of being there? For it is perfectly 
clear that a large attendance may be 
due to one of several causes, bearing 
very little relation to its real value. 
It may be due largely to habit. In 



STANDARDS 33 

some cases it is due to the fact that 
the midweek service is the chief or 
only through-the-week activity of the 
church. Thus a large attendance might 
not be a sign of unusual efficiency but 
of its very opposite, meaning that the 
church was attempting none of the 
other things it might do and ought 
to do. In other cases, of course, it 
is due to its meeting a genuine need 
and functioning with the utmost effi- 
ciency in the life of the church. But 
in every case the size is not the cause 
of value and can be taken as an indi- 
cation of it only very roughly. The 
popular epigram that the "prayer meet- 
ing is the thermometer of the church" 
is the kind of misleading half truth 
that popular epigrams usually are. 

1. The most obvious test of a prayer 
meeting is a fair one — "Does it pray?" 
This means more than to ask, "Are 
there prayers said?" In a little church 
in the Middle West the following 



34 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

petition was offered every week for 
ten years, with very few exceptions: 
"Bless each and every member of the 
church in the lot whereunto Thou hast 
called him or her, and all the peoples 
of the earth from the heads of the 
rivers to the feet thereof." These 
words always occurred in a prayer, 
but it would be an unpardonable 
stretching of language to say that 
the meeting prayed. Leading a body 
of people in prayer, using that phrase 
in its largest sense of leading them 
through months and years into a real 
practice of prayer, is the most im- 
portant as well as one of the most 
considerable undertakings to which a 
pastor can address himself. Nothing 
calls for more resourcefulness and pa- 
tience and nothing touches the church's 
power so nearly at the center. It is 
an enterprise much like the uncovering 
of a spring. The hard crust of stereo- 
typed phrases and traditional ideas and 



STANDARDS 35 

misconceptions must be first removed, 
carefully and tactfully, as a rule, but 
sometimes the crust which forbids the 
flowing of the stream is so hard and 
set that it requires a process much 
like blasting. It is the most rewarding 
work a man can ever do. Once unlock 
the spring of a genuine petition and 
intercession and everything shall live 
whither the river cometh. 

The French have an extremely sug- 
gestive phrase, which they use of a 
public meeting, when they say, "It 
marched"; the phrase catches splen- 
didly the swing and movement of an 
exhilarating public gathering. Is there 
not room for a phrase descriptive of 
a prayer meeting, conveying something 
just as definite and real — "It prayed"? 
When such a description is a true one, 
the meeting reaches back across the 
centuries and clasps hands with the 
company of folks in Jerusalem of whom 
we read, "And when they had prayed, 



36 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

the place was shaken where they were 
assembled together; and they were all 
filled with the Holy Ghost, and spake 
the word of God with boldness." The 
sequence is always true of a gathering. 
When it prays — it marches! 

2. Does it "domesticate" religious 
truth? When the psychologist writes 
of consciousness he tells us of ideas 
and perceptions being divided accord- 
ing to their "warmth" into two great 
classes, the "me" and the "not-me." 
The things which have some personal 
association with one — his property, 
friends, reputation, thoughts — all ac- 
quire a warmth or feeling of pro- 
prietorship which constitute them a 
part of his larger self. It is the func- 
tion of Christian teaching and preach- 
ing to transfer the substance of 
Christian faith from the "not-me" to 
the "me" part of men's minds. In 
a peculiar sense this is the business 
of the prayer meeting. By its topics 



STANDARDS 37 

and their treatment, by the participa- 
tion it elicits in as many and varied 
ways as possible, it should move the 
truths of Christian faith within the 
inner circle of what actually "belongs" 
to a person and enters in as con- 
stant ingredient in his daily life. Lord 
Bacon says of familiar essays that 
they are "most current for that they 
come to men's business and bosoms." 
The prayer meeting succeeds when it 
comes to men's business and bosoms. 
It fails when it stops short of that 
and reaches only their ears and eyes. 
A form of meeting which fails to estab- 
lish this closeness of intimate feeling 
and relationship may be unimpeach- 
ably good in itself and still fail of 
its largest service. At the celebrated 
tea party given by the March Hare, 
the Hatter and the Dormouse, in Alice 
in Wonderland, the Hatter gazes re- 
gretfully at his broken watch and 
reproaches the March Hare angrily, 



38 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

"I told you butter wouldn't suit the 
works." "It was the best butter," the 
March Hare meekly replied. The fact 
that it was the very best butter could 
not help him, if it was not butter at 
all which the works needed but some- 
thing entirely different. Many a 
prayer meeting leader has striven to 
make his addresses better and better, 
and has made them of the finest 
quality, when what was needed was 
not the best kind of addresses, but 
something entirely different. 

3. Does it break up the molds of 
thinking? This is a hard but fair 
test of a vital prayer meeting. The 
midweek council or conference gather- 
ing furnishes a rare opportunity for 
the breaking up of mental soil and 
the consequent possibility of new 
growth. Bishop McConnell says that 
many Christians are still-born — they 
never add anything to the range of 
ideas or practices which were theirs 



STANDARDS 39 

at the time of their entrance into the 
Christian life. Instead of moving 
ahead on the straight road that grow- 
eth more and more light even unto 
the perfect day, they revolve in cir- 
cles. It is this unprogressive circular 
character of the prayer meeting which 
has frequently made it a kind of 
spiritual merry-go-round. To furnish, 
even by the simplest means, some new 
approach to truth — some new angle of 
vision on duty — is as essential to 
life as plowing to a corn field. The 
landscape artist is continually con- 
cerned to get new glimpses of his 
subject to help him in his composi- 
tion. He will frequently look at it 
from under his elbow, and even 
upside down. Such new "composi- 
tions," "puttings together" of life are 
indispensable to a living church. 

4. "Is it linked up to service?" This 
is the fourth and greatest standard. 
The finest automobile constructed, 



40 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

without a "clutch" which can be 
thrown into the machinery and relate 
the racing motor to the miles of road 
to be covered, is a poor affair. Has 
the prayer meeting a "clutch" which 
can be "thrown in" and turn the 
machinery of the church? For the 
"manifestation of the Spirit is given 
to every man to profit withal." In 
service, the successful prayer meeting 
begins and ends. What gave the 
fellowship gathering of the early church 
an undimmed glow and zest was the 
fact that it was a workers' conference 
and fighters' assembly. As we read 
over the personal greetings in the 
last chapter of the Epistle to the 
Romans we get an idea of the com- 
pany who made up the meeting in 
which the letter would be read, and 
we find ourselves among a group of 
people who came to the meeting from 
labor and the battlefield — Priscilla and 
Aquila, fellow workers in Christ, who 



STANDARDS 41 

had risked their necks, and whose 
very house was a church; "Mary, who 
bestowed much labor"; Andronicus and 
Junius, fellow prisoners; "Urbane, our 
helper in Christ"; "Apelles the tested"; 
"Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labor 
in the Lord," and "Persis, who 
labored much." Is it any wonder 
that in such a gathering of active 
workmen there was an atmosphere of 
reality and alertness, which made it 
move in spiritual power? With a 
meeting, which, on the other hand, 
is on the order of Melchizedek, which 
has neither spiritual ancestors in the 
form of Christian service already per- 
formed, nor descendants in the form 
of service inspired and subsequently 
rendered, but which stands as a thing 
alone and self-sufficient, it is no won- 
der the meeting lags! The surest 
hoops of steel with which to grapple 
friends to the common gathering are 
the bonds of a common work. Then 



42 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

it is, in a true and literal sense, that 
man is a "creature of large discourse, 
looking before and after " and finding 
in each direction the natural tongue- 
freeing interest of a worker in his 
work. The meeting which really in- 
spires definite service, in whatever 
way, whether by filling the springs 
of Christian joy and devotion out of 
which all power for service ultimately 
comes, or uncovering some new corner 
of opportunity, is one that the King 
delighteth to honor. 



CHAPTER IV 

SOME PRAYER MEETING 
EXPERIENCES 

The meetings described in the fol- 
lowing chapter are outlined with a 
very modest purpose. They have not 
solved the "prayer meeting problem/ 9 
as it is frequently referred to in pain- 
ful accents. They are no sort of a 
panacea. They do not displace other 
types of meeting which have borne 
genuine and manifold fruit for years 
and which will, in the good providence 
of God, continue to do so. There 
are seasons and places where the 
largest good can be accomplished by 
the meeting being given an educa- 
tional aspect and consisting largely 
of an address by the minister. So 
with other kinds of meetings which 

43 



44 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

deserve to hold a permanent place in 
the life of the church. It is simply 
as variations, with a quite general 
adaptability, that the meetings in this 
book are put forth. 

They have at least the virtue of 
being real records of actual experience. 
They have all been used under con- 
ditions such as obtain in the average 
church and do not depend for success 
upon any extraordinary responsiveness 
among the people or extraordinary 
capability in the leader, for they did 
not have these conditions when used. 
As will be readily seen, most of the 
meetings have the common element of 
furnishing the attendants something to 
do as well as opportunity for "re- 
marks," and the experience has been 
that the "things to be done" have 
served to make the things said come 
with more readiness, naturalness, and 
pertinence. Something of the element 
of a "surprise party" has been given 



EXPERIENCES 45 

to the service, immensely strengthen- 
ing the interest in the service on the 
part of the congregation, by imparting 
a real variety. Frequently variety in 
the prayer meeting has been sought 
for by means so external and super- 
ficial that the real character of the 
gathering remains unchanged. It has 
been like the boarder who complained 
to his landlady that the meals were 
too much the same, since she had 
macaroni for dinner every day. She 
promised to remedy the fault, and, 
true to her word, the next day there 
was a change. Instead of macaroni 
she had spaghetti! While the writers 
wish most earnestly to avoid creat- 
ing the impression that the meetings 
achieved more than was actually the 
case, it can truly be said that they 
did much to exorcise the evil spirits 
of dumbness, constraint, and reserve. 

1. The greatest result was in the 
development of people. With some peo- 



46 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

pie the degree of response was not 
what was hoped for and expected. But 
with a surprising number the informal 
character of the discussions of themes, 
which bore directly on the lives at 
many points, elicited a participation 
not present before, greater in quan- 
tity, and marked with a genuineness 
and frankness which was both novel 
and gratifying. Folks grew in the 
grace of expression and the process 
of that growth added to the riches 
of the whole company. It is a perti- 
nent word which Dr. J. H. Jowett 
writes: "The church is poor because 
much of her treasure is imprisoned; 
but she herself carries the liberating 
key. Our riches are buried in the 
isolated lives of individual members 
instead of being pooled for the endow- 
ment of the whole fraternity. A very 
large part of the ample ministry of 
the 'Koinonia' has become atrophied, 
if, indeed, it was ever well sustained. 



EXPERIENCES 47 

'O, for a closer walk with God/ we 
sigh. O, for a closer walk with man, 
we may add, as well." 

The wealth of suggestiveness and 
experience which are to be contributed 
by many, if once the safety deposit 
vault of their reserve and silence can 
be opened, is truly surprising. Fre- 
quently, it cannot be opened because 
the distance from not speaking at all 
to speaking on the greatest and deep- 
est themes is too large a one to be 
taken at one step. Many of the 
themes and programs of the meetings 
described have served to put grad- 
uated steps between these extremes. 
By connection with things which 
brought no sense of spiritual self-con- 
sciousness the habit of freedom of 
speech is established, and once estab- 
lished it can be used to many ends. 
One man put his impressions in a very 
definite way at one time during a 
meeting. "Why, it seemed as though 



48 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

the pastor must have pronounced the 
benediction at the beginning of the 
meeting. Everyone was talking just as 
they usually do when it is over." 

2. The meetings have given freedom 
from stereotyped speeches and prayers. 
When the subject is so distinctly and 
definitely one thing, the many irrele- 
vancies and stock speeches are by a 
natural and automatic process crowded 
out. And when a habit of more gen- 
eral participation has been established 
the time limit becomes a necessity and 
a blessing at once. 

3. Initiative has been developed. 
Several extremely valuable suggestions 
for meetings have come from the 
people themselves as the service has 
fastened itself in their interest. This 
has had the double value of providing 
helpful meetings and of inspiring the 
people with a new feeling of ownership 
and responsibility. 

4. An entirely unexpected experience, 



EXPERIENCES 49 

but one rich in value, has been in the 
themes for sermons supplied. The in- 
terest and problems of the people have 
been disclosed with unaccustomed in- 
timacy and fullness. If the ideal 
sermon should have "heaven for its 
father and earth for its mother," the 
prayer meeting has often supplied 
elements of both, particularly of the 
earth, in its disclosure of the condi- 
tions of people's minds and lives. 
Often a practical question discussed in 
prayer meeting has stirred the soil 
and awakened interest, affording a 
preparation for the preacher's pulpit 
message, on the same subject, as 
beneficial as a spring plowing be- 
fore sowing the seed. The debate on 
"Resolved, That the world is growing 
morally and spiritually better," had 
such a decided effect. Those who had 
been in the meeting were already 
awakened with thought. The consid- 
eration of the question, "What are the 



50 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

real possibilities of our church?" was 
extremely helpful to the pastor, pre- 
paring to treat the same subject, and 
furnished an audience composed of 
many who had already thought seri- 
ously on the theme and were keenly 
alert to consider it. 

Two supplementary remarks may 
perhaps be well added. A strong 
Prayer Meeting Committee, to help 
plan and provide for the meetings, 
has been found not only a help but 
practically a necessity. It not only 
assists the pastor but makes for the 
democracy of cooperation, and is an 
outward and visible sign that the 
prayer meeting is not a harmless ex- 
crescence on the body of the church or 
a foible of the pastor, but part of the 
program of the church. It is a sad 
thing and a "bad-weather" signal when 
the Finance Committee of the church 
is the most important one, or perhaps 
the only one. The church whose gov- 



EXPERIENCES 51 

erning board rarely ever acts on any- 
thing except the treasurer's report is 
usually acting on a deficit. Member- 
ship on the Prayer Meeting Committee 
can be made a post of real respon- 
sibility, work, and honor. And on 
its membership there may with great 
helpfulness be some who have pre- 
viously had nothing whatever to do 
with the prayer meeting. Different 
members of the church, if possible a 
man and his wife, have frequently 
been asked to act as host and hostess 
at the meeting. This was done but 
occasionally, so that it never became 
merely a form, and it added to the 
informal and domestic character of the 
meeting. The duties were not defined, 
and different hosts and hostesses acted 
in different ways, except that all re- 
ceived the attendants with greeting and 
made themselves particularly respon- 
sible for introductions and sociability. 
Sometimes the meeting itself provided 



52 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

some special connection with the hosts, 
as when the people went from one room 
to another, when they acted as guides, 
or when pictures or books were to be 
passed in the meeting — which they 
took charge of. 

Frequently the host and hostess 
furnished flowers, though some were 
asked explicitly not to do so, so as 
not to make it an unvarying custom, 
perhaps burdensome. Some provided 
special music. Some furnished light 
refreshments, especially in summer. 
One couple furnished copies of the 
Gospel of John, appropriately inscribed 
with a personal greeting, at a meeting 
calling for the use of the Gospel. 
The total cost of the Gospels was a 
little over a dollar. Some furnished 
cards containing the greetings of the 
season — at Easter and Christmas and 
New Year's, etc. 



CHAPTER V 

THE MEETINGS 

In considering the following plans 
it should be kept in mind that prayer 
and the expression of testimony are 
not omitted from any of these services. 
The suggestions and symbolisms used 
are but a guide and stimulation to 
them. Rather than prayer and testi- 
mony being crowded out, it is found 
that they become more natural, more 
vital, and certainly more to the point. 
It should also be noted that it is not 
the intention to suggest the use of 
these services one right after the other. 
This is not a year's program for the 
midweek service; these meetings are 
not offered as a substitute for the 
usual prayer meeting. They are sug- 
gested, rather, as types of meetings 

53 



54 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

to be interspersed with the usual meet- 
ings to add variety, interest, and 
naturalness to expressional religion. 

"Twelve o'Clock and All's Well" 

This was the midnight call of the 
old town crier, and furnished the 
motto and spirit of the first meeting 
of the year as the old year turned 
into the new. A large picture of the 
"Town Crier" holding his lantern and 
calling out the hour was lent by one 
of the members and hung on the 
front wall of the room, decorated with 
holly. The little Christmas tree in 
the room was kept over from the 
Christmas meeting and on its branches 
hung several packages of different 
sizes. The presidents or represent- 
atives of different organizations in the 
church were asked to be present and 
receive gifts for their respective organ- 
izations. After these were duly opened 
they were found to contain greetings 



THE MEETINGS 55 

from the church to the different or- 
ganizations, composed of appropriate 
Scripture, a wish for some definite 
thing for the organization to accom- 
plish that year, and a prayer for help 
to do so. The greeting to the Sunday 
school, for instance, was in the form 
of a miniature manuscript roll after 
the old Jewish pattern on which was 
written 2 Tim. 2. 3, and 3. 14, 15, and 
the wish and prayer that it might 
strengthen its hold on the boys and 
girls of the intermediate grade. So 
with five other organizations. The 
president of the Ladies' Aid Society 
received a spool of thread and needles 
and the wish that through all the social 
work of the organization the spiritual 
purpose might be preeminent. From 
this beginning a natural and free con- 
versation on the tasks of the church 
ensued. The aim of the meeting was 
to foster the spirit of unity and con- 
fidence. 



56 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

An Evening with Old Bibles 

Nearly every Christian family has 
among its possessions an old Bible 
around which hover very tender asso- 
ciations. In some cases it has come 
down through several generations; in 
others it is the father's or mother's 
Bible. Frequently such a volume 
shows the marks of long usage by 
some loved one. The congregation 
was asked for this service to bring 
such Bibles. The number of such 
Bibles in any congregation will be 
surprising. Those who brought them 
told to whom they had belonged, 
how they had been read, and then 
read from them — in most cases some 
marked passage. The progress of the 
meeting brought out the real connec- 
tion between Bible-reading and charac- 
ter, and at the close the leader spoke 
briefly on the value of having one's 
own Bible for devotional reading; how 



THE MEETINGS 57 

everyone has to make his own Bible 
by his own use, and the value of 
marking a Bible and so linking it up 
to particular times and experiences 
in life. 

The Communion of Saints 

A good-size map of the United 
States is placed in the front of the 
room, where all can see it; then each 
one is given a small United States 
flag. After the service is introduced 
each one is asked, separately, to go 
to the map, and stick the flag in the 
place, where they were converted, or 
first joined the church; they then may 
tell about that church, or their early 
experience there. 

Another good meeting may grow out 
of this one by having greetings sent 
from this meeting to these old home 
churches, and when the replies are 
received, have the answers read in a 
subsequent meeting. 



58 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

A Cooperative Gospel-Reading 
Meeting 

Under the conviction that the aver- 
age church member knows far too 
little of the contents of the Gospels 
as a whole, a meeting was planned 
which consisted wholly of reports on 
Bible-reading. The people were as- 
signed different chapters in the Gos- 
pels to read and report on the contents 
of the chapters. The first evening 
was given to the Gospel of Matthew 
and Mark, eleven people being asked 
to read four chapters each and briefly 
tell what was in them, thus covering 
the forty-four chapters of the first 
two Gospels. Outlines of the two 
books had been put on the blackboard 
so that the movement of the Gospels 
could be readily followed. A succeed- 
ing evening was devoted to Luke and 
John. The meetings were entirely the 
people's meetings and were instrumen- 



THE MEETINGS 59 

tal in securing a large amount of 
careful Bible-reading on the part of 
the congregation. The epistles of Paul 
were later treated in the same way. 

My Favorite Portrait of Christ 

This subject afforded an opportunity 
to study the character of Christ from 
what was to most people a new point 
of view. Cbpies of Perry Pictures — 
prints of the most famous portraits 
of Christ — were provided at one cent 
each. They were freely circulated 
among the audience so that all were 
able to examine them. After a few 
remarks by the leader different people 
told which of the portraits did the 
most justice to their idea of the Master. 
The spiritual value of the meeting 
was in the way it brought out appre- 
ciations of the character of Jesus, 
particularly his courage, strength, and 
manliness, which many portraits of him 
utterly fail to suggest. The consensus 



60 THE MID WEEK SERVICE 

of opinion was strongly in favor of 
the modern painters rather than the 
classics, with Hofmann in his "The 
Boy Jesus in the Temple" and "Christ 
and the Rich Young Ruler" decidedly 
the favorite. Holman Hunt, Plock- 
horst, and Tissot were next in order, 
with a very general liking for Thor- 
waldsen's sculptured Christ. The 
prints were given out to be taken 
home as remembrances of the meeting. 
A meeting similar in character was 
held later in the year on the subject, 
"My Favorite Madonna." Pictures 
were used in the same manner. It 
afforded, among other things, an ex- 
cellent opportunity to consider the 
natural causes of the rise of the wor- 
ship of the Virgin Mary, and in view 
of these causes, the necessity of keeping 
our conception of Christ so filled with 
sympathy and humanity that all that 
the heart craves of tenderness may be 
found in him. 



THE MEETINGS 61 

Groups in Prayer 

After the people have assembled, 
and had about ten minutes of intro- 
ductory service, the meeting is divided 
into groups under leaders. These lead- 
ers know before the meeting that they 
are to lead a group, and what their topic 
is to be. Each leader takes his group 
into a separate room, and for twenty 
minutes they counsel and pray on their 
topic. Then all return, and the closing 
fifteen minutes of the service is given 
to reports of these meetings by the 
leaders, or by any one of the group, 
if they desire to speak. It is found 
that this type of meeting may get 
many more to take part than the 
average meeting, and also that there 
is a definiteness about the prayers, 
because of the subjects that are as- 
signed. So many prayers do not get 
anywhere; but in this service, where 
blackboards were used in some of the 



62 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

rooms, there was a definiteness about 
the prayers, which was splendid. 

The February Family 

This meeting is held at a proper 
time in the month of February. In 
this month occur the birthdays of 
many of our famous men. We all 
are familiar with Lincoln and Wash- 
ington, but there are many others, 
whose birthdays might be celebrated, 
were it not for these outstanding 
characters, such as, for example, Ruskin 
and Longfellow. A very interesting 
service can, therefore, be developed 
by simply assigning to different people 
the task of bringing in very brief 
biographies of these prominent charac- 
ters. It is always best, we have 
found, to have some anecdotes of these 
lives brought rather than just the bare 
facts. There is nothing so stimulating 
as the study of biography, and espe- 
cially the study of men who have 



THE MEETINGS 63 

risen from meager circumstances to 
prominent places in the world. The 
month of February is rich with such 
characters, and should not be over- 
looked. 

What Books Have Really 
Helped You? 

With two or three assigned to lead 
in the discussion, people were asked to 
name two or three books, whether 
fiction or any other, which they had 
really enjoyed and loved, and which 
they felt had been permanently help- 
ful. The aim was not to compile a 
list of suitable books to be read, 
which would be quite easy, and per- 
haps quite useless, but something 
better — a real experience meeting on 
books actually read and prized. The 
pastor's opening remarks were on some 
books which had been formative in- 
fluences on great lives, such as the 
influence of Law's Serious Call on 



64 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

Wesley and David Brainard's Journal 
on the life of Henry Marty n, etc. 
The list which resulted was printed by 
the Young People's Society of the 

Church with the title, "The 

Church Five-Foot Shelf of Books," 
and was distributed to the congrega- 
tion. A few letters on the subject 
from representative people in the city 
were read in the meeting. 

The Real Elements of My Life 

Under this general head were held 
what were considered by many the 
most profitable meetings of the year. 
They were introduced after the "fam- 
ily-council" idea had become firmly 
enough established and the informal 
atmosphere prevalent enough to make 
such meetings profitable because gen- 
uinely real. A description of one will 
suffice for five or six. There is 
a world of meaning, always well 



THE MEETINGS 65 

worth pondering in connection with 
preaching and the prayer meeting, 
in the old Greek myth of Anteus: 
Anteus was the son of Terra, the 
Earth. He was a mighty giant and 
wrestler whose strength was invincible 
as long as he remained in contact 
with his mother Earth. He regained 
vigor whenever his feet touched her. 
The prayer meeting is such a wrestler. 
When it touches the earth and comes 
into real contact with people's lives it 
waxes strong. These meetings "touched 
the earth' J with new vitality as the 
result. One evening the subject was, 
"What are the real elements of your 
Happiness?" The people were asked 
to name not the things which all 
would agree ought to make folks happy, 
but what really did contribute to their 
happiness. Of course every life has 
its own reserves which are for itself 
alone, and no attempt was made to 
have intimate secrets disclosed. But 



66 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

apart from things sacredly personal, 
much help is to be had from the dis- 
cussion of the question from the stand- 
point of actual experience. It was 
significant that only one person men- 
tioned money, and many spoke of 
things usually considered minor mat- 
ters. Similar questions taken up at 
intervals were : 

What do you most fear? 

What is the most difficult thing you 
ever did? 

What have been the most helpful 
influences of your life? 

What is the unpardonable sin against 
you: that is, what do you find it most 
difficult to forgive? 

What is the most impressive thing 
you ever witnessed? 

A Reason for the Faith 
That is in You 

Two meetings were held under 
this head which had great liveliness, 



THE MEETINGS 67 

but which included a very serious 
purpose. In the first the pastor 
posed as an unbeliever in Christianity. 
He stated his assumed position as a 
nonbeliever and made the strongest 
possible case against the evidences of 
Christianity. The audience was in- 
vited to show him his errors and bring 
out points in favor of their belief. 
The discussion easily led the audience 
to consider anew the reasons for their 
faith. In the second meeting, held 
some time later, the minister argued 
from the standpoint of the man who 
believed nominally in Christianity and 
who sympathized with the church, but 
who would neither attend nor join it. 
The people were invited to persuade 
him to join, and were incidentally 
shown how the church appeared to 
many on the outside, and the typical 
attitudes and arguments which the 
* church had to overcome. 



68 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

Story Meetings 

Occasional meetings of a very simple 
character with the reading of stories 
as their principal feature have shown 
devotional value. Of course this, being 
the chief end of every meeting, must 
be furnished by the story itself. In 
some of the meetings discussion and 
testimony followed the reading. Others 
closed simply with song. 

L. H. Bugbee's beautiful Christmas 
story, The Man Who Was Too Busy to 
Find the Child (The Methodist Book 
Concern), was read at a meeting two 
weeks before Christmas. An added 
effectiveness was secured by having 
the room darkened and lighted with 
candles. Another Christmas story 
which can be used effectively is J. 
E. Park's The Man Who Missed 
Christmas (Pilgrim Press). The sub- 
ject of prayer has never been treated 
more exquisitely, perhaps, than by 



THE MEETINGS 69 

Henry van Dyke in his story, The 
Source, published in The Blue Flower 
(Scribners). J. M. Barriers tender 
description of his mother, Margaret 
Ogilvy, "How My Mother Got Her 
Soft Face," lends itself admirably to 
the purposes of a prayer meeting. 

It would be an unpardonable blun- 
der to forget, in this connection, the 
first and greatest Story Book in the 
world. From it on one evening the 
book of Ruth was read by four young 
women, each reading one chapter. 

What I Would Do With a 
Million Dollars 

In opening this meeting three people 
were asked to make brief talks on 
what they would do with a million 
dollars. It brought out very clearly 
what a complicated problem the better- 
ment of the world is; the danger of 
doing harm with money, even with 
the best intent; the superiority of pre- 



70 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

ventive over rescue work, and the 
necessity of reaching final causes rather 
than symptoms of evil. A blackboard 
was used to catch the suggestions 
offered. One speaker made an original 
and illuminating comment when he 
said that with a million dollars he 
would doubtless make a fool of him- 
self. One concrete result was the 
light gained on what to do with the 
one dollar which a man had, rather 
than with the million which he did 
not have. 

If the World Forgot to Pray 

A fresh approach to the funda- 
mental theme of the value of prayer 
was made when this question was 
the subject: "What would happen if 
everyone forgot to pray for a year?" 
The subject, as always, had been an- 
nounced in advance, and the leader 
made no introductory remarks beyond 
asking if there would be any noticeable 



THE MEETINGS 71 

difference in the world at the end of 
a year if no one prayed. Most of 
those present agreed that there would. 
They were then asked to suggest in 
just what forms that difference would 
be shown. A large number of interest- 
ing suggestions were made which were 
noted on a blackboard. Among them, 
to quote a few examples, were the cer- 
tain lowering of standards of personal 
action; weakening of conscience; blunt- 
ing of sympathies and consequent slack- 
ening of charitable and social service; 
lowering of the tone of home life; 
cherishing of bitter feelings and ha- 
treds which are frequently dissolved in 
prayer; increase in sickness, due to 
melancholy and gloom, increase in the 
number of suicides, withering of the 
church, etc. The meeting came to 
an effective climax, when after these 
things had been discussed, the pastor 
pressed home the question whether it 
was not true that the reason so many 



72 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

of these things do happen, as much 
as they do, is because so many people 
actually do neglect to pray? The 
meeting seemed to give prayer a new 
"place in the sun." 

Debates 

It has been found that some people 
who will not speak on their own 
initiative will take part in a friendly 
and informal debate. The plan for 
this service has been to have two 
persons present the points on each 
side, followed by general discussion 
and a vote, not upon the manner of 
presentation, but upon one's belief 
regarding the question. Profitable sub- 
jects will readily suggest themselves. 
The four following have proved help- 
ful: 

Resolved, That the world is growing 
morally and spiritually better. 

Resolved, That capital punishment 
should be abolished. 



THE MEETINGS 73 

Resolved, That war has done more 
evil than intemperance. 

Resolved, That the money spent on 
foreign missions could be spent with 
better results in this country. 

These questions are all old, pur- 
posely chosen for that reason. One 
aim has been to get questions upon 
which most people already have opin- 
ions, and so make the debates less of 
a scholastic exercise, involving the look- 
ing up of material in a library, and 
more in the nature of a conversation. 
Such questions, with great religious 
import, are the only ones which can 
profitably be considered. It need 
hardly be added that it is necessary 
to avoid anything that would remotely 
raise a personal or partisan issue. 

The Inner Circle 

Before this meeting the seats of the 
room were arranged in three circles, 
the inner circle being smaller than the 



74 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

outer two. The people sat in the two 
outer circles; the inner one being re- 
served to use at the latter part of the 
service. The Scripture and brief talk 
of about five minutes by the minister 
were on the Inner Circle among the 
disciples. The testimonies and prayers 
held to the thought of fitness for 
this close relation to Christ. 

Ten minutes before the close of 
the meeting the minister announced 
that he was about to open the inner 
circle, and wanted all who would to 
enter it with him. The condition of 
the entrance was as follows: upon 
coming to the entrance of the circle, 
each one was to pause, and pray 
either silently or audibly, and at that 
time decide, with God's help, to re- 
nounce something in his life, which he 
knew to be contrary to God's will, or 
to take some definite advance step in 
his relation to him and his service. 

Almost all in the room entered the 



THE MEETINGS 75 

circle, and kneeled in the prayer of 
consecration. This meeting was deeply 
spiritual, and could not be held often, 
yet it can be held at regular intervals, 
and when announced, has brought a 
large attendance. 

Good Friday 

On Good Friday the main audi- 
torium of the church was opened in 
the afternoon and evening for medita- 
tion and prayer. There was no public 
program or set exercise at either time. 
The people had been invited to come 
to the church and spend some time 
in quietness and prayer. In the eve- 
ning there was soft music on the 
organ from time to time, mostly old 
and appropriate hymns. A great many 
people spent from fifteen minutes to 
half an hour or an hour during the 
evening in the church, and while the 
value of such a quiet prayer period 
cannot be appraised in any way, there 



76 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

were many expressions as to its help- 
fulness. It may be objected that 
this is a Catholic form of service; but 
surely it is unwise to allow such a 
simple following of the example of the 
Master, who retired so often to a 
quiet place to pray, to be regarded 
as the peculiar property of any par- 
ticular branch of the Christian Church. 

Christian Ideals and Different 
Occupations 

"Let every one look not on his 
own things but on the things of 
another.' ' This was achieved in part 
by several meetings, at each of which 
a talk was given by some one on 
his vocation and its relation to the 
Christian life. The meetings were 
in a series under the general head- 
ing, "Earthly Professions and the 
Christian Profession." The things dis- 
cussed were the particular difficulties 
of the different lines of work and 



THE MEETINGS 77 

what were felt to be their peculiar 
rewards, other than financial; also 
their peculiar temptations as well as 
opportunities which they offered for 
Christian service. Among those who 
spoke were the following: 

A teacher. 
A doctor. 
A lawyer. 
A merchant. 
A mechanic. 
A minister. 
A housewife. 
A missionary. 

An Evening With Old Hymnals 

The minister in his calling had dis- 
covered that there was quite a supply 
of old hymn books in the music cab- 
inets of different homes. For this 
service he asked that these old Hym- 
nals be brought to the church and 
used. Many were prompted to speak 
of something in connection with differ- 
ent hymns and songs. The leader 



78 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

spoke of the strength of many of the 
old songs on the side of individual 
experience and also the need to be 
supplemented on the social side, por- 
traying the enlarging conception of the 
kingdom of God. "It Is Well with My 
Soul/' for instance, was contrasted 
with a later hymn, "Where Cross the 
Crowded Ways of Life," as showing 
the necessity for individual experience 
to be completed in social aspiration 
and service. 

Behind the Duplex Envelope 

The prayer meeting the week be- 
fore the Every-member Canvass was 
made for church expenses and benev- 
olences, took the form of a general 
congregational meeting held in the 
church auditorium. In its outward 
form it resembled an entertainment 
rather than a prayer meeting, but, 
looking back over the results, there 
was no one who did not consider it 



THE MEETINGS 79 

one of the most beneficial midweek 
services of the year. The aim was to 
represent by tableaux just what re- 
sults were accomplished in filling up 
both sides of the two pocket collec- 
tion envelope every Sunday. A large 
sheet was hung up in front of the plat- 
form. This sheet had been marked 
and lettered in exact duplication of 
one of the church envelopes, with one 
side for local expenses and the other 
side for missions and benevolences. 
Behind this curtain had been placed 
a partition dividing the platform in 
two. A member of the finance com- 
mittee explained that when the cur- 
tain was drawn aside the work of the 
church at home and abroad would be 
portrayed. On the "home" side of 
the platform, when the curtain was 
drawn, was an actual Sunday school 
class in the Junior grade in session, 
standing for the educational work of 
the local church. On the other side, 



80 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

representing the missionary part of 
the envelope, were six girls and their 
teacher in costume, portraying a Sun- 
day school class in Japan. (Admirable 
costumes may be rented from the 
Missionary Education Movement, 156 
Fifth Avenue, New York, for nearly 
every foreign land, at fifty cents each.) 
The next scenes shown were a meet- 
ing of the Ladies' Aid Society on the 
"home" side, showing a few ladies 
sewing for a near-by hospital, while 
on the foreign side some young men 
represented a scene in a mission hos- 
pital in China. 

This was followed by representations 
of worship at home and abroad. A 
home pew of worshipers was shown on 
one side, and a mass movement meet- 
ing in a village of India on the other. 
The organ played softly Heber's hymn, 
"Holy, Holy, Holy." Other scenes 
helped to make the matter-of-fact and 
business like envelope seem like a 



THE MEETINGS 81 

door which opens on a world teeming 
with life, when it is conscientiously 
filled. 

A Study of Paul's Parishes 

Three meetings were given to a 
consideration of Paul as an itinerant 
pastor, his parishes, and the problems 
they offered. The three parishes taken 
up were those at Corinth, Ephesus, 
and the churches in Galatia. Thes- 
salonica also gives a fine opportunity 
for suggestive study. Bible references 
on the history of the parish, its com- 
position and PauPs relation to it, from 
Acts and the epistles, were given out 
and read. Various persons had been 
asked to tell about the problems of 
the parish, for instance, in dealing 
with Corinth, the factions, the prob- 
lem of sin within the church, the 
fanatics (Judaizers), etc. Then the 
means Paul used to lift the parish 
out of these hindrances and handicaps 



82 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

were discussed, his counsels (for ex- 
ample, the 13th chapter of First 
Corinthians) were read as throwing 
light on some permanent problems of 
every church. 

Other meetings growing out of the 
general lack of knowledge on the part 
of the people with reference to Paul's 
missionary journeys, were called "Little 
Journeys with Paul," in which an 
evening was given to Paul's mission- 
ary journeys. Maps and blackboards 
were used and the hardship of the 
journeys, etc., gave many valuable 
lessons for counsel. 

The Early Candlelight Service 

Keeping in mind the old custom of 
bringing candles to the house of God 
that it might be lighted, a service 
was planned called an Early Candle- 
light Service. The seating of the room 
was circular and nothing but candles 
were used to light the room, the 



THE MEETINGS 83 

candles being placed about the walls 
and on the minister's table. In the 
center of the room was a table on 
which a number of small candles 
formed a cross. 

Two thoughts were emphasized in 
the Scriptures and the minister's brief 
talk: that the source of every man's 
light is the cross, and that each is 
commissioned to be the light of the 
world. Accordingly, after testimonies 
and prayers, which all bore on the 
subject, the minister led the symbolic 
service, in which each person took a 
candle from the cross, signifying 
whence his light came. After this a 
brief prayer was offered, then, as all 
stood in a circle, the minister, with 
his candle lighted the first to his 
right, and that one lighted the one 
to his right, and so on, until the 
whole circle was lighted. It made a 
very beautiful service, and as im- 
pressive as beautiful. 



84 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

A rather unusual thing for a prayer 
meeting was that there was not a 
prayer or testimony but which bore 
on the subject. 

Living Up to Our Hymns 

Why do people sing certain hymns 
so heartily? Why do their hearts 
warm and their eyes glisten at the 
sound of the old familiar hymn? 
Quite often because it is old, and 
brings back the memories of the past; 
quite as often because they love the 
tune. The real thought and meaning 
of the words are often overlooked, 
and we declare enthusiastically in song 
what we neither believe nor live. 

A service with splendid results may 
be had by taking some of the familiar 
hymns and going carefully over the 
meaning of their thought, with the 
idea of living up to these high ideals 
and noble sentiments. Let this ques- 
tion be prominent: What would a 



THE MEETINGS 85 

stranger think of me if he knew me 
only by the hymns I sing, and how 
near would he be to a right estimate 
of my character? 

If I Were the Preacher 

Two very live meetings may be 
had by taking the two subjects, "If 
I Were the Preacher/' and "If I Were 
the Congregation." At the first meet- 
ing the people are asked to tell what 
they would do were they the minis- 
ter; how they would run the church; 
what things they would emphasize, 
etc. 

At the second meeting the minister 
talks on what he would do if he were 
a member of the congregation. Of 
course no one can tell just what he 
would do in some one else's place, 
but it is good to put yourself, as nearly 
as you can, in the other man's place 
at times, and sympathize. 

Like the Church Program meeting, 



86 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

these bring out good suggestions, and, 
at least, get people to thinking. 

Relatives in the Bible 

What people in the Bible are your 
relatives? The question itself arouses 
interest. In looking at the various 
Bible characters you find some that 
you like better than others. Peter 
appeals to one; John to some one 
else; Paul to another, and so on. 
Everyone has his favorites. Quite 
often we like this character or that 
because he is related to us by some 
characteristics. A very interesting 
meeting, therefore, can be developed, 
by asking the people to look through 
the Bible for familiar characters, who 
are related to them in this way. In 
one such meeting one man felt that 
his nearest relative was the one who 
fell asleep in church under Paul's 
preaching. Some would not confess 
it, but they might find that Isaac 



THE MEETINGS 87 

was their nearest relative, because 
he did the same things that his father 
did; built the same wells, and told 
the same lies. 

The Last Supper 

This is a service in preparation for 
communion. Without allowing the 
meeting to be so serious that it is 
sad, the people are asked to consider 
the important things they would like 
to say to their friends, were this their 
last supper with them. Of course it 
is at once evident there would be 
many things we would say to loved 
ones that would be too sacred for a 
public meeting, yet there are some 
things which may well be said and 
with more fitness in the light of their 
being farewell words. 

An old-fashioned Methodist love 
feast goes well with this meeting. 

Church Program Night 
The idea of this service is to get 



88 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

the people to plan a church program, 
as they would have it. A blackboard 
is used, and people are requested to 
suggest the items of importance, which 
they feel should make up the program 
of the church. One of the interesting 
things about this service is that some 
people have never thought of a church 
program. The service will give many 
people a larger idea of the scope of 
the work which the church is under- 
taking, and very often brings out 
some splendid suggestions for the min- 
ister. 

It will be found advantageous to 
take up at this service such a program 
as the missionary program of the 
church, which is very essential, along 
with the duplex envelope system. It 
may also be well to consider some of 
the overlapping of church work by 
different societies in the church, and 
see if suggestions cannot be brought 
out whereby some central authority 



THE MEETINGS 89 

can plan the church program so that 
this can be avoided. 

Reception to New Members 

This night is a regular feature. 
Communion is held once every two 
months, and the first Thursday night 
prayer meeting after communion takes 
the form of a reception to new mem- 
bers. Certain ones are asked to re- 
ceive; they are the host and hostess 
for the evening. They stand at the 
door with the new members, and in- 
troduce them to all who come. The 
evening is more of a home evening, 
and very informal. After the usual 
prayers light refreshments may be 
served. This may be made one of 
the very best of the midweek services. 

Cloud of Witnesses 

Almost every church looks back with 
pride to certain ministers and laymen 
who have been strong influences in 



90 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

the church life, and almost every 
church has pictures of such men and 
women. It is a service both interest- 
ing and meaningful, especially for the 
young people, to get out these old 
pictures, and hang them about the 
walls of the room, then have those 
who knew them tell of their life and 
work; the thought to be kept upper- 
most in this meeting is the respon- 
sibility that rests upon us because of 
the faith and labors of our fathers and 
the challenge of their expectancy. 

How We Have Taught Religion 
in the Home 

We hear a great deal about religion 
in the home, though not so much as 
we used to. Certainly, anything that 
will help to emphasize the value of 
religion in the home is needed. In 
this meeting people are asked to re- 
late the ways in which they have tried 
to teach religion to their children in 



THE MEETINGS 91 

the home, what methods they have 
used in family prayers, or any other 
suggestions that the people have to 
offer with reference to successful means 
of bringing religious instruction to the 
lives of their children. 

Church Union 

A very informal symposium was 
held one evening on the subject of 
"Church Union." Four laymen — a 
Congregationalist, a Baptist, an Epis- 
copalian, and a Methodist — described 
briefly what things in their polity 
were different from the other denom- 
inations. Each made suggestions as to 
how he thought a common basis of 
union in the matter of organization 
might ultimately be reached. The de- 
sign of the meeting was to bring out 
from the people themselves the fact 
that the greatest part of the task of 
church union, a substantial unanimity 
of spirit and faith, and has already 



92 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

been achieved. Such a meeting will 
inevitably bring up the possibility of 
a better present federation in the local 
field. 

Progressive Meeting 

For this service several rooms of 
the church are arranged so that in 
them various needs of the church are 
presented. If there are not many 
rooms in the church, then sections 
of rooms can be screened off. A leader 
is selected to be in each room to ex- 
plain the need, as the people pass 
around visiting the exhibits. It is 
well if the minister leads the people 
about, although, if there are too many, 
there may be other leaders. At each 
room or place the people pause, while 
the work to be done is presented and 
prayer is offered for this particular need. 
After visiting all of the rooms, the peo- 
ple assemble again for general prayers 
and counsel for the church work. 



THE MEETINGS 93 

Building a Character 

A blackboard is used at this serv- 
ice, and after a brief talk, in which 
the minister explains the service and 
emphasizes the importance of charac- 
ter-building, the people are asked to 
build a character in the meeting. 
Anyone is asked to suggest an im- 
portant characteristic that he thinks 
ought to make up a part of the life 
of any character. Very soon many 
of the people will be stating certain 
characteristics that to them are essen- 
tial to an ideal life, and before the 
service is over there will be some 
splendid material with which to con- 
struct a life. After all the sugges- 
tions are in, the leader can condense 
these suggestions into the essential 
characteristics that go to make up a 
true personality. It will easily be 
seen that there will be plenty of ma- 
terial in such a service as this to bring 



94 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

out splendid testimony and prayer. 
Some of the very finest lessons of 
life can be developed through such a 
means as this, and lessons that take 
hold of people because of this ped- 
agogical method of bringing them be- 
fore their attention. 

Religious Conversation 

At this meeting, after the intro- 
ductory part of the service, the peo- 
ple are divided into small groups of 
four or six, each group is assigned 
a leader, and it is better if these 
leaders have had a meeting with the 
minister previously, so that they will 
have some idea of the way to begin 
the conversation. After the grouping 
the minister assigns a religious topic 
to each group, and the people simply 
talk together, as they would in their 
homes, about anything that they may 
think of with reference to this religious 
topic. 



THE MEETINGS 95 

Like the meeting of the groups in 
prayer, the informality of this service 
brings out much more discussion than 
is usual in the average prayer meeting. 

All the News That's Fit to Print 

Especially to those living within 
reach of New York city, this heading, 
"All the news that's fit to print' ' is 
a very familiar one. It will be found 
to be an interesting service if at the 
prayer meeting a newspaper is printed. 
Of course no printing can be done, 
but the people are asked to bring to 
the service some poem or some prose 
selection or some clipping from a news- 
paper, which they consider to be im- 
portant, and then these things are all 
put together and a newspaper is formed. 

My Best Vacation 

Let the people discuss in an in- 
formal way what they consider their 
best vacation, and tell why, then let 



96 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

the minister sum up the thought of 
the evening in closing. 
Use just before vacation time. 

Church Budget 

Let the midweek service vote the 
church budget. We do not mean this 
to be final — but let the people here 
indicate what they think the money 
of the church should be spent for, 
and how much for each item. There 
are some within the church who do 
not think it very democratic, and feel 
that the officials are a rather closed 
corporation. It will do them good to 
express themselves, and may bring out 
some good ideas for the officials of 
the church, as well as furnish good 
thoughts for real prayer and testimony. 

Mirrors 

Taking Paul's thought that in this life 
we see in a mirror, there can be de- 
veloped an interesting meeting by con- 



THE MEETINGS 97 

sidering the different types of mirrors 
we look into in life. Some people look 
into mirrors that magnify, and they ap- 
pear to themselves greater than they 
are. This is the mirror of conceit. 

Some look into mirrors that min- 
imize themselves, so that they appear 
less than they are. This is the mirror 
of lack-of-self-confidence. 

Some people look into a glass that 
confuses, so that large things in life 
seem small and unimportant things 
appear important, and so on. 

Interest can be quickened by having 
these different kinds of mirrors at 
the service to illustrate each point. 
Attention can also be drawn to large 
mirrors of this type that most people 
have had experience with in places 
of amusement. 

Amusements 

Amusements make up so much of 
people's lives — so much more than we 



98 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

sometimes think — yet there is great 
confusion in the minds of many as 
to just what are profitable and what 
unprofitable ways of recreation and 
amusement. A meeting of frank dis- 
cussion on this subject will very often 
clear the matter for some people, and 
be encouraging to the younger people 
who are in attendance. 

Patriotic Meeting 

Many suggestions will immediately 
come to anyone's mind with reference 
to patriotic decorations and arrange- 
ments for a patriotic meeting. This 
meeting can be held near the thirtieth 
of May, or the Fourth of July, or 
even near the time of the birthdays 
of some of our great statesmen, such 
as Lincoln or Washington. Flags, of 
course, will from a large part of the 
decoration, and patriotic music and 
readings will enter into the service. 
Very small flags may be used to give 



THE MEETINGS 99 

away as souvenirs of the meeting. 
This meeting is especially good, as it 
may be made to appeal to the younger 
people of the church, even the boys. 
The Scouts can be used to enliven 
this meeting — both the Boy Scouts and 
Camp Fire Girls. 

An Art Gallery Meeting 

Perry pictures, reproductions of the 
old masters, especially those with les- 
sons of religion and life, are used for 
this service. Such pictures as "Break- 
ing Home Ties," "The First Winter 
of the Puritans," "The Legend of the 
Holy Grail," "The Angelus," etc., 
should by all means be included. 

The pictures are arranged in series 
to bring out character lessons, then 
each series is hung or pinned up in 
different rooms of the church; or, if 
there are not many rooms, then in 
sections of one room. One person 
will have charge of each of the groups 



100 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

of pictures. The congregation is then 
divided into several groups, and they 
pass around, stopping in each room, 
or each section of the room, where 
the person in charge explains the pic- 
tures and draws the lessons from them. 
This will require thirty or forty min- 
utes, and then all reassemble for gen- 
eral prayers. 

Family Prayers 

Under this simple wording the 
Thanksgiving meeting was announced 
and held. It aimed to live up 
to its title and give more than a 
remote suggestion of that atmosphere 
of a home where family prayers were 
a regular, natural, and real thing. A 
fireplace was set up at the front of 
the room with red electric lights in 
it to represent the family hearth (where 
a real fireplace can be used the effect, 
of course, is much better). Some of 
the older persons of the parish were 



THE MEETINGS 101 

asked beforehand to conduct the fam- 
ily prayers. After the people assem- 
bled they were broken up into several 
groups and went to different rooms, 
and there these leaders conducted fam- 
ily prayers, just as they would in 
their own home with their family. 
The meeting was a simple, old-fash- 
ioned Thanksgiving meeting, with the 
particular feature of emphasizing anew 
the value of home worship. 

"By the Christmas Fire" 

The fireplace and a small Christmas 
tree were used in connection with the 
meeting the week before Christmas. 
It was designed to make a lull in the 
rush of Christmas preparation in the 
home, stores, and the church, and 
afforded an opportunity to remember 
what it was all about. The best-loved 
of the Christmas songs were sung, 
two lullabys by some of the Sunday 
school children, and several old carols 



102 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

by two or three members of the choir. 
Three selections were read by different 
people. The Christmas story from 
Luke, part of the Cratchits' Christmas 
dinner from The Christmas Carol, and 
the last two paragraphs from Henry 
van Dyke's The Meaning of Christ- 
mas, were read. 

A Chain of Prayer Across 
the Ages 

It will be noticed that many of 
the meetings here described have been 
on the subject of prayer. This has 
not been due to accident or lack of 
proportion, but to the conviction that 
the distinctive function of the prayer 
meeting is the cultivation of the prayer 
habit. The purpose of this particular 
meeting was to show the universality 
and range of prayer down through 
the ages. Two books were used in 
preparing for the meeting — The Mean- 
ing of Prayer, by H. E. Fosdick 



THE MEETINGS 103 

(Association Press), and A Chain 
of Prayer Across the Ages (Dutton). 
Most any collection of prayers would 
do equally well. The introductory part 
of the service consisted of the reading 
of prayers representing different ages, 
different experiences, and different 
needs. The Meaning of Prayer contains 
a fine selection of prayers voicing differ- 
ent emotions in prayer, praise, thanks- 
giving, penitence, petition, interces- 
sion. To show these different aspects 
of prayer, prayers by various men 
were read — Saint Augustine, Thomas a 
Kempis, Bishop Launcelot Andrewes, 
and Beecher; and as representing 
the new sense of social aspiration and 
brotherhood, Walter Rauschenbusch. 
With such an introduction, a meeting 
may take its own course. The im- 
pression left is sure to be that of 
prayer as the means of entrance into 
the great and goodly fellowship of 
the world's largest souls. 



CHAPTER VI 
ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS 

Signs of the Times 

At this service, especially if the 
service is in a large city, there may be 
hung about the room certain signs, 
with which the people are very fa- 
miliar — signs that are for the pro- 
tection of the people in their general 
intercourse, and yet signs which may 
bear a moral or religious significance. 
Take such signs, for example, which 
we are very familiar with in New 
York city, such as, " Watch Your 
Step," "This Way Out," "This Way 
In," "Pay as You Enter," "Shine 
Inside." Each one of these signs, 
when people are reminded of it, will 
bring a real message. 

"Watch Your Step," that it may 
104 



ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS 105 

lead you in the right direction, and 
that it may not lead others astray; 
"Pay as You Enter/ ' so that you 
will not wake up in years to come, 
and find yourself in debt; and so each 
of these signs, and many others, which 
might be mentioned, may be used, not 
only to bring messages on that par- 
ticular night, but may also tend to 
cause these people to remember lessons 
of that night whenever they read these 
signs again. 

The Things That Jesus Likened 
Himself to in the Bible 

The title of this service is explan- 
atory in itself. Jesus likened himself 
to Bread, Way, Light, Vine, Shep- 
herd, Door, etc. For this service the 
leader should announce at the service 
the week before that this was to be 
the nature of the service, and ask 
the people to look up references in 
the Bible, which refer to Jesus, or in 



106 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

which Jesus refers to himself as like 
certain great, substantial things in 
this life. 

The things to which Jesus likened 
his disciples may be helpfully grouped 
together, using the Bible references to 
Salt, Light, Friends, Leaven, Seed, 
Sheep, etc. 

The Child in Ouk Midst 

In preparation for this meeting the 
people are asked to interview children 
to find out their opinions with refer- 
ence to God — as to who God is, where 
God lives, what God does, who God 
associates with, how God communi- 
cates with us, and how we with him. 
Two things will probably develop from 
such a service as this: it will be re- 
markable to see how nearly genuine 
is the simple faith of the child, and it 
may also tend to help the older ones 
to be more sympathetic with the view 
point of the child. Jesus said that 



ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS 107 

a little child should lead them, and 
unless we become as little children we 
cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. 
Some people have never really under- 
stood these teachings. 

The Midweek Reception 

Certain ones are selected for this 
service to be at home to the mem- 
bers of the church, and they make 
provision for the service just as they 
might were they receiving in their 
own home; then they greet the people 
as they come, and conduct the service 
as though the people were their guests. 
Interest can be added to such a serv- 
ice if these people will send out "At 
Home" cards to the people of the 
parish, or, a better thing is to have 
each person who will send an "At 
Home" card to several others, who are 
not in the habit of attending the 
service, and then be there to greet 
them and make them feel at home. 



108 THE MID-WEEK SERVICE 

How Men of the Bible Prayed 

In his little book entitled The Mean- 
ing of Prayer Harry Emerson Fosdick 
has some splendid illustrations and 
references showing how various men of 
the Bible prayed — their posture, their 
attitude, their words, and spirit and 
prayer. This in itself forms the basis 
for a very suggestive service. 

An interesting meeting can be de- 
veloped in which such things as the 
following are considered: 

Jesus's conversations. 

Jesus's answer to questions. 

Jesus as a debater. 

The types of faith which Jesus met, 
and how he met them. 

The types of doubt which Jesus met, 
and how he met them. 

The Great Battlefields 
of the Bible 

The greatest battlefields of the world 



ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS 109 

are in the heart. Biographical ap- 
proaches to very common problems in 
everyday life may be had in a series 
of prayer meetings which take up 
"The Great Battlefields of the Bible." 
These would be experiences in the 
lives of men where they either con- 
quered or were conquered by some 
great temptation or calamity. For 
example: 

Christ in the Wilderness. 

Saul and his fits of despondency. 
Also Elijah. 

Job. 

Solomon — the battle against dom- 
ination by material possessions. 

Moses, Daniel, Judas, etc. 



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